A Brief Description of Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a severe, disabling and chronic disorder that affects people. Schizophrenia is diagnosed as a psychotic disorder. This is because a person suffering from schizophrenia cannot tell their own thoughts, perceptions, ideas, and imaginations from the reality. There is continuing debate and research as to whether schizophrenia is one condition or a combination of more than one syndrome that have related features. People suffering from schizophrenia may seem perfectly fine until the time they talk actually talk about they are thinking. People with schizophrenia rely on others for help since they cannot care for themselves of hold a job. There is no cure for schizophrenia, but there is treatment that relieves some of the symptoms. People having the disorder will cope with the symptoms all their lives. There have been cases of people suffering from schizophrenia leading meaningful and rewarding lives. There are five types of schizophrenia namely paranoid, disorganized, residual, undifferentiated, and catatonic schizophrenia. This paper will discuss paranoid schizophrenia.

Expert’s reason that unevenness in the complicated interconnected chemical responses of the brain connecting the neurotransmitters dopamine and glutamate, and maybe others, performs a part in schizophrenia. Neurotransmitters are elements that permit brain cells to interconnect with each other. Experts are acquiring more about brain chemistry and its connection to schizophrenia. Similarly, in small methods the brains of people with schizophrenia appear diverse than those of healthful people. For instance, fluid-filled holes at the middle of the brain, called ventricles, are greater in certain people with schizophrenia. The brains of people with the disorder similarly manage to have less grey matter, and certain

Researchers believe that dopamine plays an important part in schizophrenia. The goal of conventional antipsychotic drug therapy is to reduce the amount of dopamine, or the amount of dopamine receptor sites. They are dopamine antagonists

According to James G. Hollandworth of the University of Southern Mississippi, schizophrenia is primarily characterized by a disintegration of reality perception, consciousness, and thought process which results in a debilitated proficiency in social and professional faculties (Hollandworth, 1990). While schizophrenia can most arguably be classified as a predominantly genetic affliction, there are others factors which can contribute to its development even without a genetic predisposition. These elements include birth defects such as hypoxia and low birth rate, neuroanatomical anomalies, viral infections, along with low IQ and cerebral atrophy (Hollandsworth, 1990). While these components in themselves are not sufficient enough to cause the disorder, they result in an increased risk for developing the disease. One theory for the cause of schizophrenia that has been studied with great validity is the dopamine hypothesis. This theory postulates that schizophrenia is caused by an overabundance of the dopamine-dependent areas of the brain causing an imbalance that affects the entire system (Hollandsworth, 1990). For this reason many of today’s schizophrenia treatment drugs inhibit dopamine receptor activity in an attempt to return it to its natural equilibrium. Although even with advances in modern science and new drugs being developed every day, the illness is still only treatable and its symptoms still emerge even

The major support and refutation of the dopamine hypothesis has come from the examination of dopamine receptors in these regions of the brain. There are two main types of dopamine receptors, D1 and D2. However, within the category of D2 receptors, there are three subtypes, D2, D3, and D4. (5) Through PET scan analysis of dopamine usage in the brain and post-mordum molecular analysis of brain tissue, researcher were able to determine relative levels of dopamine receptors in patients with schizophrenia compared to non-schizophrenics. Overall analysis of dopamine

Schizophrenia has many different behaviors and moods with disorders of thoughts and movement (Nimh.nih.gov, 2016). Schizophrenia has three classifications of symptoms, positive, negative, and cognitive. Positive symptoms are psychotic symptoms, usually auditory hallucinations, delusions, disorganized speech and behavior (Frankenburg, 2015). Other positive symptoms are dysfunctional ways of thinking and disturbed body movements. Negative symptoms are expressed primarily through emotions and behaviors. Negative

Patients with schizophrenia resulted to having antibodies in their systems while the other group did not. (Grison, Heatherton, and Gazzaniga, 2015, p. 521). Other researchers have presented arguments of their being abnormalities in the neural transmitters. (Grison, Heatherton, and Gazzaniga, 2015, p. 521). Dopamine is one neural transmitter researchers have taken a major interest in because medication given to schizophrenics blocking the dopamine transmitters seem to help calm the severity of the symptoms of a wide number of patients. Although doctors are not yet certain of the cause of schizophrenia they are certain of the fact that people with schizophrenia have less brain tissue due to having large ventricles.

This paper defines schizophrenia from a biological and psychological perspective and also provides treatment to help combat symptoms of schizophrenia. This paper has three important contributions. First, by defining and expanding on schizophrenia from a biological perspective, I can identify the nature related predispositions. After expanding from a biological approach, secondly, I will analyze schizophrenia from a psychological aspect by determining if there is any environment or nurturing externals that can result to schizophrenia. Lastly, I will provide treatment details and also reveal early signs to schizophrenia. This paper is important because schizophrenia is an epic mental disease and it is crucially important to bring awareness to the public of how we can limit the illness. It is unclear whether schizophrenia have only a biological background or psychological background, but what was discovered is that both contribute to schizophrenia. Positive and negative treatment can be combatted undergoing pharmaceutical and psychotherapy,

Mental health has been studied for centuries now. There have been fast differences major evolutional discoveries and changes since mental health has been researched and studied. Many theorists have been pioneers in their respective studies and laid the blueprint for what it is today. One of the interesting diagnosis’s during the early development is how Schizophrenia is a diagnosis that has been misunderstood over the centuries. The criteria that would determine one such a label, has shifted drastically. Although it has shifted and the information we have today is much more polished due to the amount of research and studies that have taken place, it’s important to learn and know the history behind how schizophrenia came to be and how it was coined to become such a noticeable and intricate part of diagnosis’s in psychology. Leading the way in the foundation and discovery of

The treatment of schizophrenia varies. Many patients are treated with drug. Current treatment modalities are somatic and psychotherapeutic which were performed in many different ways that associates with drug treatment. The somatic treatments for schizophrenia are all based on drug therapy and pharmacology (de Meduna). Of course, there have been previous approaches of treatment. Psychosurgery, which had been rejected, includes electro convulsive therapies, insulin coma, and various treatment that involved immersion in hot or cold baths. The pharmacological therapies currently applied all have scientific proof of their effectiveness, although the results of these studies have also provided that when drugs are stopped, relapse may occur

Schizophrenia is a class of mental disorders often symptomatic of a broad spectrum of behaviours which ultimately fail to determine what is real. Some of the symptoms that make up the spectrum of schizophrenia include hallucinations, invalid or illogical beliefs or thought processes, and abnormal social expression. It is worth noting that schizophrenia does not mean multiple personality disorder but rather a separating of mental function and is also rarely diagnosed separately but along with other conditions, such as depression, mania, and anxiety disorders. As to the causes of schizophrenia, both genetic [1] and environmental factors [2] have been found to influence the progress of schizophrenia, but there is still much which is unknown

Schizophrenia is universally considered to function on a neurological level, with various studies claiming that several different types of neurotransmitters are thought to contribute to the manifestation of schizophrenia in the brain (Carlton, 1984). These findings have encouraged the development of various hypotheses for the cause of schizophrenia, one of these includes the dopamine theory (Carlton, 1984). The theory originated out of research on the dopamine-blocking actions of initial antipsychotic drugs (Moncrieff, 2009). Pharmacological studies researching the use of drugs to treat schizophrenia found that, drugs which decrease dopaminergic activity in the brain such as, Clozapine and Haloperidol, are considered to be antipsychotics, whilst

Over the years, experiments have produced evidence to suggest that dopamine plays a role in the development of Schizophrenia (Howes, McCutcheon, & Stone, 2015). Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is produced in the substantia nigra and ventral tegmental regions of the brain. The belief that dopamine was involved in Schizophrenia arose after multiple studies performed with compounds produced an increase in extracellular concentrations of dopamine (Lieberman, Kane, & Alvir, 1987). The patients that were administered these compounds had similar symptoms to those observed from patients who were diagnosed with Schizophrenia (Lieberman et al., 1987).

More subtle symptoms include a lack of interest, lack of social interaction, and inability to sustain relationships. At this time there are a number of medications that can be used to help ease the symptoms of schizophrenia. Therapy and rehab have also been proven effective once medication is stable. The purpose of this paper is to examine the history, origins, symptoms and treatments of schizophrenia. By examining the, be it short, history of the disorder one will be able to better understand the intent of current research and the problems being attempted to solve.

Schizophreniais one of the most commonly known psychological disorders found in humans. It is commonly mistaken for “multiple personality” or “split personality” due to the Greek origin of its name skhizein and phren, meaning “to split” and “mind” respectively. However, the more common symptoms of schizophrenia are hallucinations, delusions, and disorganized thought. This paper will discuss the causes, symptoms, and treatments of schizophrenia.